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It had been nearly two months since Onin had left his study; the dragonborn hadn't even stepped foot from the rather large library that was in his domicile for nearly the entire day, stopping his research only to use the facilities and stuff food into his maw. As a powerful wizard of the area he had the luxury of creating unseen servants that could do things like deliver things and get his food from the market and prepared for him. It was a minimal amount of power for the time that he had gotten for it, though the result also meant that he could get absorbed into his work without much motivation to go out.

That's why when he went out to finally stretch his legs he was surprised to look out his window and find it was the middle of the night. With the position of the moon in the sky he had guessed that he had once more worked for nearly the entire day, which would explain why everything felt so stiff. As he walked to the door so that he could go and wash the bluish-grey and tan scales that covered his body he found his gaze once more going back to the artifact that sat on a pedestal in the middle of his library. The polished purple stone gleamed in the light of the magical fire that was constantly burning in his fireplace, and though he once more felt the pull towards it his bodily needs finally outweighed his obsessive desire to study it.

As he went to his bathroom and used a bit of magic to activate the shower he had created, Onin found himself letting out a sigh. It wasn't just the artifact that had created this fixation; the dragonborn had always been interested in the culture of ithilids, also known as mind flayers. They were extremely reclusive to the point where there wasn't much known about them, just that they were the greatest assimilation of knowledge that had ever been known. The methods for gaining such were... questionable, but that didn't stop him from continuing to pour years worth of research into them.

Until he had gotten the artifact though he had gotten nowhere, Onin had managed to get his clawed hands on every piece of literature that even mentioned the creatures. He had become somewhat of an expert on the topic, and as he got into the shower that he had magically heated he thought back to all the knowledge that he had gone through and yet never got close to his goal of understanding them better. But his reputation as a master of ithilid knowledge had spread to the point where he had gotten several messengers asking about things that were related to the mind flayers. Most of it was garbage, but his efforts finally bore fruit when it came to the delivery of the artifact that was left at the door.

Onin found himself leaning against the stone shower wall that was molded by his own magic, his mind still down in the study despite being refreshed by the warm water. It had been an enigma wrapped up in a mystery, even with all his knowledge that he had gathered this relatively abstract stone statue wasn't mentioned in any sort of offering that he could get his hands on. Part of him wanted to bring it to the academy that it was in the nearby city, but every time he thought about bringing it out of the study he couldn't imagine what would happen if he accidentally lost it. Even just the thought of it being out of his grasp had caused him to shiver despite the heat of the water on his scales as he finished washing up.

Since he lived alone Onin allowed his scales to air dry, using a towel just to get the excess water off before he made his way back down towards the study. He would get clothing a little later, for the moment he had gotten an idea on another scroll that he had acquired a year ago from a traveling merchant. It was a study on the underdark... and with his concentration focused on the runes that he only knew a limited amount about he failed to notice that the artifact had started to glow upon the return of his presence in the room.

Though sleep should have come to him, Onin found that he couldn't be bothered for something as pitiable as sleep. There were mysteries to unlock, and as the days had gone on he had been staying up longer and longer at his desk. Days were already melting together with the lack of scenery changing, and even as he sat down once more to study he could feel the stiffness returning to his limbs. It was something that was a bit concerning, but not enough for him to stop his obsessive search as he continued to pour his attention over the parchment.

As he was about to move on to the next scroll he paused as he saw something at the bottom that hadn't been there before. It was a few droplets of black that looked like ink, but when he pressed his fingers against it he found it to be fresh. While he had been taking notes it was at an arm's length away, and he had not risked ruining it with having the ink so close. That meant that the source of it had to be directly above the parchment, which the only thing that hovered over it was his own face...

But just as Onin was just about to bring his clawed fingers to his nostrils, the knock spell on his door was activated. The dragonborn quickly got back up and absentmindedly wiped his snout on his sleeve, leaving a smear of black on it as he got up. While he was curious on who was possibly at his door so late at night, as he walked past the window he found that it was once more morning. How much time had passed... all he knew was that he was so close to some sort of breakthrough, he could feel it deep inside his bones as he went over and opened the heaven wooden beam that barred the threshold before opening it.

"Ah, Onin, there you are," the elf on the other side of the doorway said as Onin looked at him. "You were supposed to be helping with the organization of the tomes in the grand library of the university, remember our deal? For the rather hefty tome that we had managed to procure all those months back?"

Though Onin felt a bit embarrassed that he had forgotten his obligation, which also meant that they were closer to the three month mark then he had thought, there was also a bit of indignation at being interrupted for something so... petty. "I'm on the cusp of something with that artifact that had been sent to me," Onin replied, trying to not let his current mode tint his tone. "I know that I promised you my undivided attention and magical acumen, but if perhaps you could just give me another week I will be able to devote all the attention I have to your works, you know that I usually spend more time there then in my own study."

"Yes, I know that you are a valued wizard in the realm," the elf replied, his frown still present on his face. "But your oath comes before your frivolous chance for some species that hasn't even been seen in these lands for decades. Now I'm going to give you one day, and if I don't see you in that anchor circle by sunrise tomorrow then consider your privileges revoked."

Onin felt his lips curl in a slight snarl, but gave a curt nod and closed the door in his face before he had a chance to see it. One day... that was all he had before he would be tasked to months upon months of tedious reorganizing and cataloguing of the magical tomes that the library held. While normally being around such vast stores of knowledge would be a treat for him, the only thing he could even focus on was that artifact and the anger that came from being interrupted in his work. It was an almost unnatural anger, but it still felt rather justified as he marched his way back into the study.

As Onin came back into room, however, he saw something that had immediately lifted his mood. The artifact had started to glow with a purple light, this time catching the dragonborn's attention as he slowly began to walk towards it. Each time it pulsated he could feel it like a wave that washed over his body, though as he continued to look at it in awe it was slowly dying down. His look of shock quickly fell to a frown as he could see it reverting back to his inert state, the brief glimpse of what he had seen fading away until once more it was completely dark.

"Why... why did you do this?" Onin asked, reaching out with a hand towards it. "I've used so much magic on you and nothing happened, now you flare up when my back is against the wall. What secrets are you hiding?!"

His last sentence came out angrier then he had intended, but when it did he gasped when there was a strong pulse of light that came from it. "You... respond to emotions," Onin said, though as the musing dragonborn continued to think about it he had an epiphany. "No, not emotions, mental energy. I've heard of such things, but never really saw an example of it..."

The light died down in the artifact, but Onin had already gotten the lead that he had been looking for. In the back of his mind he would have to remember to thank the Head Librarian for causing him to be so infuriated that it had caused a reaction in the artifact. It took him a few minutes but eventually he had found the book that he was looking for that would contain the information he needed, the wizard shaking his head as he flipped the pages of it once he got back to the desk. It didn't take long for him to see the word he was looking for, the bold text explaining about the theoretical magic known as psionics.

This time Onin found himself keenly aware of the time that it took to get the information that he found, looking out at the moon starting to rise as he closed the book. While what he had read did help him gain the basics of how psionics worked, he was still no closer to figuring out how it would relate to an artifact like the one he had in front of him. As he looked back up at the shelves that surrounded him, he knew that there were likely more books that he could glean knowledge from, but not in the time that he had been given. If he didn't crack the artifact by morning he would have to wait probably a year to take another run at it, and had no idea what would happen by that point.

It prompted the dragonborn wizard to think about something... slightly more drastic in nature to unlock its secrets. He had already seen that it reacted to his emotions, and with the primer in psionics he found that such things reacted to mental energy. It made him wish and he had gotten angrier sooner, but this place was where he found himself most at home and was practically serene when surrounded by his tomes. That would have to change, but as he focused on the artifact he found that as he furrowed his brow at it that it once more started to glow.

Perhaps he could merely use his concentration, Onin thought to himself as he once more went over towards the artifact. As a wizard one of the things that he had learned early on was concentration, and while his magic wasn't useful that skill could help with harnessing latent talents in psionics. Unfortunately he had no idea of what that would entail, but as he continued to focus on it he could start to feel a tingling in the back of his mind. The dragonborn was slightly surprised that this had never really activated before, but it didn't matter much to him as his eyes continued to remain fixated on the object.

After cracking his neck, Onin went over and decided to put his hands on either side of it like he was about to cast a spell, but instead of actually casting anything he just focused his thoughts on it. He knew that this was a risky maneuver, especially dabbling with something that he understood very little of, but with time ticking down he was willing to open his mind. It helped that it was the first time that he had made progress in months and for the first time he was able to do something other then look through dusty tomes trying to find more information. Onin wondered if he might learn even more from the artifact then he did all these books, and all he would have to do was just find a way to open it.

When he started to focus in on the crystal it once more began to glow, feeling it pulsate once more as he brought his full concentration to it. As the tingle of energy once more radiated through his body he could start to sense something happening, a feeling that had been a tickle in the back of his mind. It was like a small flow of water that was trickling into his mind from the artifact that was between his hands. At first it was hard for him to keep focus as his heart pounded in his scaly chest, but as he continued to focus in he found his thoughts locking in on it.

The sensations that were thrumming through his body were intense; it reminded Onin the first time that he had managed to cast magic through himself, and when he continued to stare at the crystal he could feel his mind opening. It wasn't just some artifact, it was an actual fragment of something from the ithilid, some sort of crystal that was formed entirely out of psionic energy. As he continued to focus he felt his mind opening up like a flower, but as his eyes widened at the flow of information growing greater he also noticed something else happening to him. At first he thought it was just the energy that was coming from the crystal making his features appear distorted, but when he finally did pull his hands away he found what he saw was not a trick of the light.

Onin found himself panting heavily as the exertion of his efforts crashed down on him, causing him to fall to his hands and knees. As he continued to breath heavily he could feel something dripping from his jaws, the black liquid dripping down onto the stone floor as well as his hands. His eyes were vibrating as he saw that the grey scales on his hands had not only fused together but had also shifted to a deep purple hue. They looked absolutely alien to him, and as he flexed them he found that the digits were stretched and his claws sharp. Though he had only gotten a few vague pictures of what the Illithids looked like, he knew enough to know that he was staring at the hands of a mind flayer.

It caused the dragonborn wizard to back away, his breathing growing heavy as the artifact continued to pulsate with otherworldly light despite pulling back. His first immediate thought was to cast a containment sphere around it and look to the magical institution for help, but even as he sat there on the floor recovering he could feel other alien thoughts telling him otherwise. Just with the brief contact he had made with the artifact had given him a wealth of information that he could have never gleaned from a more traditional fashion, absorbing everything within a matter of a few minutes what would potentially take months for him to learn and retain. It was an intensely intoxicating sensation to know so much, and yet somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that further exposure would cause potentially more changes.

But... as Onin's mind calmed and his shock dissipated, the wizard wondered if such a thing would be a terrible loss. How much time had he sacrificed to plumb the depths of the Illithid? All the answers that he could ever want were right there, tempting him with the incalculable knowledge of not only the species he had spent so long obsessing over, but also what they knew. Already he could feel his knowledge of psionics broadening to the point where he brought up a hand and felt the power of the artifact flow into him once more.

But the experimentation had come with a cost, and as he let out a groan he felt his fingers twitching and shifting once more. This time he could watch as a membrane grew between his fingers while the purple alien flesh spread up his forearms and assimilated his scales further. He hissed slightly as he could feel his arms actually elongating slightly, and though it wasn't enough that people wouldn't know, he became far more aware of his own form. His eyes blinked a few times as he tapped into his growing feeling of his own body, sensing the psionic energy spreading through his body unbidden by his own thoughts...

...or perhaps he was doing it. It was getting hard for Onin to differentiate between his own thoughts and the ones that were spurred on by the corruption starting to grow inside of him. The wizard knew enough that he could tell the tendrils of desire were not exactly his own, but at the same time they had aligned with is own wants that he found it hard to push them back. He wanted this, maybe not exactly in the form he was being introduced to them, but this was what all his searching was supposed to accumulate to.

Well, with a few changes, Onin said as he flexed his inhuman hands. When he decided to take a break he had to tear himself away from the artifact, feeling its siren call of knowledge continuing to beckon him forth. As he walked out of the study and made his way to the bathroom he finally felt his breath that he had been holding leave his lungs. Even with some more distance being put between him and the artifact the psychic weight continued to be felt on his mind while he went to his washroom.

Eventually Onin got to his basin and used a little magic in order to get the water going, but as he washed his muzzle even his usual magical proclivities felt strange to him. It was like he was doing something foreign to him despite having done such a thing countless times in his life, and as he looked up at the mirror he had hanging over it he let out a gasp. For a second the dragonborn wizard thought he was looking at some other reflection, the scales of his muzzle had turned purple and his face almost looked squashed in, but the real shock was that there were deep divots in his upper and lower jaw. It looked like they were starting to separate from one another, and as Onin continued to focus his glowing purple eyes witnessed the surface of the mirror starting to tremble before it finally shattered.

The sudden violence had caused Onin to step back, holding up his hands as the sharp shards came flying towards his face. Once more he found a shiver go down his spine and as he brought his hands up to try and cover his face he saw the glass freeze in mid-air. With the initial shock quickly passing he looked past his fingers and saw that the pieces of the mirror weren't quite locked in place, rotating slightly while they continued to hover there. It didn't take much for the dragonborn to realize that it was the power that came from his newly developed brain, something the artifact had a hand in as he withdrew the psionic energy and let them fall to the floor.

That was interesting, Onin mused as he looked at his own alien hands. While he had experienced great power as a wizard, most of the time he had to rely on knowledge to tap into the weave of magic that surrounded everything. This... this new energy came from within, and as he turned back towards the door he opened it with a flick of his wrist. Even with the changes that were happening to his body he found himself so intrigued to continue to crack the mystery of the artifact, though there was another darker part of him that wanted to see just how deep this well of illithid power could be plumbed.

Even though Onin knew deep down that he should step away, the wizard dragonborn also had enough sense to realize that he wouldn't be able to. The power had ensnared his senses, corrupted the very core of his being to the point where magic was no longer good enough for him. All he could do was step forward, and as he did a purple aura began to radiate from his body. His eyes glowed with a bright purple hue as the artifact that he approached began to thrum with resonance. Already his body was starting to react, feeling the alien flesh pushing its way up his forearms that was thickening with new muscle and sinew.

Onin began to pant heavily as he brought up his mutated hands, and as his entire body began to levitate he felt his toes lengthening as though in response. Just like with his hands they twisted and lengthened, the toes merging together somewhat to create completely new appendages. A pulse of power radiated through the room, causing the candles to all go out from it. There was no need for such light however, especially as the artifact grew brighter and brighter from how close the transforming dragonborn got.

Just as his hands were about to touch it though there was a momentary relapse of his thoughts, causing Onin to pull back just before he made a true connection with it. But even though he had a momentary respite from the power, he could still feel his mind continuing to absorb the power like a sponge. It was as natural as breathing, though as the psychic energy flowed into his body it was starting to become harder to do so. He hadn't even realized his chest was starting to heave until he had felt a tightness there, though it was quickly spreading up towards his head as he used his claws hands to rip the wizard robes from his body.

As the clothing fell in tatters from his body so did his old life; Onin could no longer control himself, what little resistance his mind had to his transformation was obliterated as the dragonborn began to feel his skull throbbing and pulsing. There was no pain, but anyone that might have looked at his floating form might have assumed as such while his jaws cracked and his spine popped. The artifact was reshaping his form, creating a vessel that could properly handle this new power that thrummed in every cell of his changing form. When his chest heaved once more it was with new muscles that rippled and formed underneath purple skin that was quickly spreading over his body. There were no more barriers left for the psionic energy to overcome, and all Onin could do was let it happen as the changes reached a fevered pitch.

The artifact had been pulsing faster as Onin's heart did the same. Everything began to levitate in the study as the fire in the fireplace was blown out from another wave of psychic energy, the heavy wooden shelves and desk starting to fracture and splinter under the psychic pressure that was filling in the room. More pops and cracks filled the room as he brought his hands to his face, feeling his already mutated jaws finally split down the middle while his teeth sharpened and pushed back. He could feel every inch of his new tentacles growing down from his face as his skull grew longer, his horns falling away from his head while the veins growing on his new head pulsated from the growth.

Finally Onin let out a terrifying screech as his body arched back, the glass windows that had been cracking the entire time finally shattering as the hovering books and equipment were forced back against the wall from the force of the psionic explosion. With it was the last vestiges of what had been the dragonborn wizard, the newly reborn creature slowly lowering back down to the ground as the artifact crumbled and turned to dust. There was no more power left in that stone, it had all been transferred to the illithid that was slowly regaining his breath. The thoughts that ran through the creature's elongated head were no longer those that had belonged to the previous owner of the study, the new Onin was one twisted and corrupted by the new power that was contained within his shiny purple skin.

For a few moments there was only silence in the room, save for the occasional sound of hanging debris falling to the floor, but slowly the air was filled with an echoing laughter that came from the mind flayer. It wasn't coming out of his mouth, instead Onin's expanded psychic powers projected it mentally throughout the room as he slowly got to his feet. As he stood up tall he felt his head bump against the chandelier and realized this new form was taller than his old one, and as he looked down at his naked form he knew that there would be no garb that would fit him. It was the trappings of his old life anyway, and as he used his psionic energy to manifest new, more eloquent robes befitting his stature he looked out of the destroyed window to see the first rays of dawn approaching.

It reminded him of his obligations, one that he was more than ready to comply with as he floated out of his study...

Meanwhile in the nearby city the elf that had visited Onin was waiting at the summoning circle, looking at the pocket watch in his hand to see if the dragonborn would arrive on time. Though he had known the dragonborn wizard for quite some time it was because of that he was waiting impatiently. He knew about how sometimes he would lose himself in his work, especially when it came to the mind flayers of old. The elf sighed as he looked at the watch once more and wondered why the other wizard even bothered studying such a obscure species, only for his thoughts to be interrupted when he saw the stones of the circle begin to glow.

The elf got ready to tell Onin that he was late, but as he watched the energies swirling within he noticed the usual blue glow of magic was shifting to a purple hue. There was also a crackling in the air that he had never felt before, and as he backed away from the stones he could see them starting to crack slightly from the strain of whatever was happening. For a brief moment he saw the shadow of a tall, imposing figure that was hovering in the middle of it, but before he could discern what it was he was blown backwards from the wave of energy that came from the summoning circle. It had knocked out the lights of the area and plunged the room into darkness, and as the elf quickly got back to his feet he could sense the presence of another that had not been there before... but it was not the dragonborn wizard.

"Or is it?" the elf heard, though the voice echoed in his skull as he felt his entire body freeze out of fear. "I'm here to help organize all these tomes of knowledge as per your instruction, and with my new abilities I think you'll find me quite... efficent. Of course, to do so I would need to know exactly how you want it, along with all those other tasty secrets inside your head."

Before the elf could say or do anything he felt a weight on his body that kept him from moving, as well as the strong hands of the creature that had hovered up silently behind him. Onin let out a hum of approval as he could already feel the mind of the man opening up to him, his mouth tentacles slithering over his head and around his neck to increase the psionic contact. With his new vision he could see in the dark as the terrified creature's eyes suddenly began to roll back in his head, feeling his knowledge and thoughts being absorbed into the creature whose tentacles were starting to push into his ears. Already he could see the flesh there turning to a lighter purple as they began to slither inside, causing the elf's body to convulse as a direct connection was made to his new master.

Onin's body shuddered as well, the information he was draining from this man was exquisite, and he could feel it quickly being assimilated and joining with his own mind. While most of it was on magic that he no longer needed, there were also quite a few things that he had not known before. It was a somewhat enlightening experience, and though he could have just as easily consumed everything and left this creature a husk he still needed the elf to run this place while he set up shop. As his thrall, of course, and as the mind flayer tentacles continued to push into his ears and mouth to suck the knowledge out of him Onin knew this would only be the first of many to join him...